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Virgil Full Text
To view the essay questions given out on 30/4/12, see here Book 2 L.268-795 268-280 It was the time at which first rest begins for weary mortals and creeps over, most welcome, by the gift of the gods. In my dreams, look, before my eyes Hector seemed to appear to me, very sad and to shed copious tears, (in the same form) as he was once, where he had been dragged by the two-horse chariot, and he was black with bloody dust, his swollen feet pierced by thongs. Woe is me, what he looked like! How much he had changed from that famous Hector who returned wearing the spoils of Achilles and who had tossed Trojan torches onto the Greek ships! His beard was unkempt, his hair matted with blood, and he bore those numerous wounds which he received around the walls of his fatherland. Spontaneously weeping, I myself seemed to address the man and to utter these sad words... 298-317 Meanwhile the city is in confusion with grief on every side, and more and more, although the house of Anchises, my father, was secluded and set back, overshadowed by trees, the sounds grow clearer and the horror of armed warfare grows. I am aroused from sleep and by climbing I clamber up onto the gables right at the top of the roof and I stand with my ears pricked up: just as when flame falls upon the crops, with the South Winds raging, or the rapid torrent of mountain river flattens the fields, flattens the lush crops and the oxen's labours and drags woods headlong; uncomprehending, a sheperd is bewildered, hearing the sound from the high peak of a crag. Then, indeed, the truth is clear, the trickery of the Greeks lies revealed. At one moment the spacious house of Deiphobus fell to its ruin, with Vulcan gaining the upper hand, at the next, Ucelagon's, next door, is ablaze; the broad straits of Sigeum reflect the fire. There arises the shouting of men and the blare of trumpets. Out of my mind, I seize my weapons; nor is there reason enough in weapons, but my spirit is ablaze to gather together a band of men for battle and to rush together to the citadel with my allies; frenzy and anger carry away my mind and it occurs to my mind that it is a beautiful thing to die in armour. 624-654 Then indeed all of Ilium seemed to me to sink into the flames and Neptune's Troy seemed to be overturned up from its depths: and just as farmers in rivalry press on to uproot an ancient ash on the top of mountains, hacking at it with their iron axe and frequent blows of their two-faced axes, that tree continually threatens to fall and trembling sways its canopy as its top is shaken, until little by little, overcome by its wounds, it groaned its last and torn away from the ridges it dragged its ruin. I climb down and with the god leading me I make my ways through the flames and enemy: weapons give way and the flames recede. And when at last I reached the threshold of my father's abode and our ancient home, my father, whom I wanted above all to carry off into the high mountains and whom I sought first, refuses to prolong his life, since Troy has been destroyed and refuses to suffer exile. 'You' he says, 'who have blood untouched by age and whose solid strength stands by its own vitality, you, plan flight. If the heavenly dwellers had wanted me to prolong my life, they would have saved these abodes for me. Together we have seen enough and more than enough destruction and we have survived the capture of the city. Address my body situated thus, o, thus, and then depart. I myself shall find death by my own hand; the enemy will take pity and will seek spoils of war. The loss of a tomb will be easy to bear. Long since have I been hateful to the gods and long since, useless, have I been making my years linger, every since the father of the gods and the king of men blasted me with the winds of his thunderbolt and struck me with lightning. Relating such things, he stood firm and remained unmoved. We, on the other hand, my wife Creusa and Ascanius and the entire household, gave ourselves over to tears, so that my father would not want to overthrow everything with himself and to add weight to our pressing fate. he refused and stuck to his purpose and in the same abode. 671-716 Then I girt myself with my sword again and inserted and fitted my left hand into my shield and started to make my way out of the house. Look, however! Embracing my feet, my wife remained resolutely on the threshold and was holding out little Julus to his father: 'If you are going away intending to perish, carry us off also into everything with you; but if from your experience you place some hope in taking up arms, protect this household first! To whom is little Julus being abandoned, to whom is your father being abandoned, to whom am I, once called your wife, being abandoned? Crying out such things, she was filling the entire house with groaning, when a sudden portent, marvelous to relate, arose. For between the hands and the faces of his sad parents, look, a flickering tongue seemed to pour light from the top of Julus' head, and a flame, harmless to the touch, seemed to lick his soft hair and to feed around his temples. We, trembling, were panic-stricken with fear and shook out the burning hair and extinguished the holy fires with water. But Father Anchises happily lifted his eyes to the stars and stretched out his hands with his voice to the sky: 'Almighty Jupiter, if you will be swayed by any entreaties, look down on us and grant us this help alone, if we deserve it through our righteousness, Father, and confirm these omens. Scarcely had the older man spoken these things, and with a sudden crash it thundered on the left, and falling from the sky through the darkness a star trailing its torch rushed with much light. We see it gliding over the highest gables of the roof burying itself clearly in the wood on the Mount Ida and and signalling a pathway; then with its long track the furrow gives light and the places far wide around smoke with sulfur. Clearly signalling he pathway. At this moment indeed, my father, convinced, raises himself up to his full height and addresses the gods and worships the sacred star. Now, now, there is no delay; I follow and where you lead, there I am, gods of my fatherland; save my household, save my grandson. This is your omen, Troy is under you divine protection. I for my part give way and, my son, I do not refuse to come as a companion for you.' That man had finished speaking, and now throughout the city the sound of fire is heard more clearly. And the fires roll the heat closer, 'Therefore come on, dear father, place yourself on my neck; I myself will take you up on my shoulders nor will the effort weigh me down. However circumstances turn out, there will be one shared danger, there will be one source of safety for us both. Let little Julus come as a companion for me and let my wife track my footsteps at a distance. You, slaves, turn your attention to what I am saying. There is for those who are leaving the city a mound and an ancient temple of Ceres which has been deserted, and nearby an ancient cypress-tree preserved for many years by the piety of our fathers, from many different directions, we will come to this one place. 768-795 What is more, daring to hurl words through the darkness, I fill the roads with shouting and in sadness, repeating myself, I fill the roads with shouting and in sadness, repeating myself I called out for Creusa again and again in vain. To me searching and rushing through the buildings of the city without end, a hapless phantom and the ghost of Creusa herself appeared before my eyes and her spectre was larger than the woman I had known. I was dumbstruck, my hair stood on end and my voice stuck in my throat. And then she addressed me this and removed my anxieties with the following words: 'Why does it please you to indulge your mad grief so much, oh sweet husband? These things are not happening without the will of the gods; it is not right for you to carry Creusa as your companion from here, nor does that ruler of Olympus above allow it. A long exile awaits you and a vast expanse of sea must be plowed by you and you will come to the western land of Hesperia, where the Lydian Tiber flows with its gentle course through the fertile fields of men. There happy circumstances, a kingdom and a royal bride have been secured for you; dispel your tears for your beloved Creusa. Not I will see the proud homes of the Myrmidons or the Dolopes nor will I go to serve Greek matrons, I, a woman of the line of Dardanus and daughter in law of the goddess Venus; but the great mother of the gods keeps me in these shores. And now farewell and preserve the love for our shared son, when she had spoken these words, she abandoned me weeping and wanting to say many things, and she vanished into the thin air. Three times I tried to place my arms around her neck in her place; three times having been grasped in vain her spectre fled from my hands, like the light winds and very much like a fleeting dream. Thus at last, having used up the night time, I return to my companions.